Election Day live: Polls close in Wisconsin and the wait begins for results

Voters in the Milwaukee area express what they think is wrong with our political system today.
Mike De Sisti, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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Sabrina Hudson (left) checks in with poll worker Pat Tiarks in Butler. Hudson, a new resident of Butler, registered to vote in today's mid-term elections. She was among the many who got up early to cast their ballots.(Photo: Angela Peterson/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)Buy Photo

Turnout was reported heavy across the state as voters made their way to the polls through a mix of rain, wind, chilly temperatures and in some regions of the state, snow.

All day long, we've heard reports of strong turnout from around the state, and in some places people waiting in long lines.

Beloit runs out of ballots, voters wait as long as 30 minutes for more ballots

9:20 p.m.

In Beloit, all nine polling locations needed to print more ballots which required making multiple trips for deliveries, according to city officials. Three polling places ran out of ballots and some voters had to wait for more to be delivered as the number of voters exceeded projections.

The longest wait at any of the three affected polling places was 30 minutes.

Beloit officials ordered in advance enough ballots to cover 80 percent of registered voters. Anyone in line by 8 p.m. was allowed to vote.

In a state that President Donald Trump carried two years ago, Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin gained a strikingly comfortable victory over Republican Leah Vukmir Tuesday.

Focusing relentlessly on health care and zeroing in smartly on parochial and populist issues like Wisconsin cheese and Buy America provisions, Baldwin rode a wave of personal and political enthusiasm to win her second term.

Marquette University vote totals ahead of last midterm election

As of 6:30 p.m., 1,360 voters had come to the Marquette Alumni Memorial Union. That exceeded the total from the 2014 midterms, when 1,067 voted. Turnout for the 2016 presidential election was 2,373.

Busy day in the City of Milwaukee

6:10 p.m.

"Everybody is reporting that it's very busy," said Neil Albrecht, executive director of the City of Milwaukee Election Commission. "Obviously some of the voting sites are busier than others."

He said that of the city's 193 voting sites, the busiest include those in the 3rd District, which include areas of downtown and the upper east side, as well as the near north side, Bay View and the south side.

The city is still projecting a turnout of about 200,000 voters, including early and absentee voters, which would amount to a turnout of approximately 65% of registered voters, Albrecht said.

That total would be slightly less than the 208,000 voters in the City of Milwaukee in 2014, but more than the 187,000 city voters who cast ballots in 2010.

Albrecht added that city voters were still struggling with proof of residence requirements.

"We've had to triage a lot of calls with voters trying to help them work through what they can use for proof of residence in order to be able to register," Albrecht said. "But we've also had quite a few provisional voters that were not able to meet the photo ID requirement."

Hundreds of photo IDs issued on Election Day at UW-Madison

5:10 p.m.

UW-Madison officials were seeing steady traffic at campus polling places with no reports of significant delays or disruptions, according to campus spokeswoman Meredith McGlone.

By 2 p.m., the university had issued approximately 500 photo ID cards on Election Day to students who needed them to vote. That's in addition to 7,928 issued previously.

No selfies at UW-Madison polling spot

5:05 p.m.

Tacked to a bulletin board outside a polling place inside the Memorial Union on the UW-Madison campus were a sample ballot, polling hours, a map of the voting precinct, a notice that no firearms are allowed and this notice. "No selfies or photos inside the polling place. Feel free to take photos or selfies by the sign outside."

This sign was tacked on a bulletin board outside a polling spot at Memorial Union on the UW-Madison campus.(Photo: Meg Jones / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Running late this evening? You can still vote if you're in line when polls close

5 p.m.

If you''re running late and worrying about not having time to vote, as long as you're in line at your polling place by 8 p.m., you'll be allowed to vote.

According to the Wisconsin Elections Commission: Voters standing in line waiting to vote when the polling place closes at 8 p.m. on Election Day will be permitted to vote.

Voters lined up outside church on Milwaukee's south side early

4:45 p.m.

At Divine Peace Lutheran Church on South 76th Street in Milwaukee, pastor Paul Learman provided complimentary treats to voters.

"We see this as a chance to serve our neighborhood and our community, and we love to be a place where people can gather and do their voting and enjoy a treat on the way out the door and hang out and talk," Learman said. "It's a fun way to promote community.

"Today was the first time that 15 minutes before we opened, there was a line of 15 people out the door. Fifteen minutes before we open, there's usually maybe 1 or 2. This area is really good as far as numbers (of turnout), but we're way ahead than what we're at normally.

"We had an older gentleman, I'm sure he was in his 70s, here voting for the first time in his life. I told him congratulations, that's really awesome."

Vote Goats: Petting zoo at UWSP aims to bring young voters to the polls on Election Day

4:40 p.m.

NextGen America organized a petting zoo at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point on Election Day to encourage students to vote, tagging the effort as #VoteGoats on social media. The group provided voter information packets to ensure students who stopped by had enough information and knew how to register and vote.

A couple dozen people stood around the animal pen despite the Tuesday afternoon rain to feed and take photos of the various animals, which included goats, alpacas, ducks and cows.

Austyn Zarda is a field organizer for NextGen America. He said the group wanted to reach out to youth in an unorthodox way, and the organization has had luck setting up petting zoos.

Fivethirtyeight.com projecting Wisconsin with the highest voter turnout in the nation

4:30 p.m.

Wisconsin has one of the closest gubernatorial races in the country, and in conjunction with the state’s traditionally high turnout, it’s no surprise that the Badger State leads our list of states with the highest projected turnout in governor races, says Geoffrey Skelley at political website fivethirtyeight.com

The web site is projecting 2,707,000 Wisconsinites out of a voting eligible population of 4,344,000, or 62.3 percent, are heading to the polls today. Rounding out the rest of the top five projected states:

Steve Rose wore a homemade "Vote!" hat and stood outside the Memorial Library on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus to encourage people to vote. He arrived at 10 a.m. and at 3:40 p.m. said he planned to stick it out until 4.

He also wore a blue poncho and carried an umbrella which kept him dry during the off-and-on rain throughout Election Day.

"A lot of students voted early. My line to people is - have you already voted? And a lot of them said they had," said Rose, who retired three months ago.

He used a yellow paper folder to attach to a Tilly hat with blue tape and scribbled "Vote!" in black marker on two sides. Rose said most students and passersby seemed receptive and only one person told him he didn't plan to vote.

"I don't know if I'd stand in the middle of Waukesha doing this but I feel pretty safe here," said Rose.

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After a rally at Shorewood High School, students marched to Lake Bluff Elementary School, a local polling place, to rally for youth voting.(Photo: Jeff Rumage/Now News Group)

Strong turnout in Waukesha, Wauwatosa and Oak Creek

4:05 p.m.

Voting was brisk at Wauwatosa City Hall, the Oak Creek Community Center and a church in Waukesha between noon and 3 p.m., not usually a heavy traffic time but all three sites were very active. No lines or delays were reported.

Shorewood polls packed

4:01 p.m.

Voters packed the polls in Shorewood, where more than 2,100 residents had cast ballots at the Shorewood Village Center as of 2 pm.

Workers were still busy counting absentee ballots well into the afternoon.

Voting problem in Howard: Over 200 people got ballots for wrong Assembly race

3:48 p.m.

HOWARD - More than 200 people in this Green Bay suburb voted Tuesday for an Assembly candidate in the wrong district — because they were given the wrong ballots.

It's unclear how, or even if, the problem can be corrected.

For more than an hour after the polls opened at Green Bay Community Church on Cardinal Lane, voters living in Assembly District 4 were given ballots Assembly District 89, and vice versa, Village Clerk Chris Haltom said.

Elections workers discovered the error shortly after 8 a.m. when a voter asked why a candidate for whom he planned to vote did not appear on the ballot, Haltom said.

He said the village quickly notified state elections officials, and logged the error, but don't believe anything can be done to correct the error.

In District 4, 173 voters were given the wrong ballots. In District 89, the wrong ballots were issued to 71 people.

Shorewood students stage election day walkout

1:47 p.m.

About 40 Shorewood High School students, most of them too young to vote, walked out of school around 10 a.m. and held a rally on the lawn encouraging young people to vote.

Shorewood High School is one of about 500 schools around the country to participate in the national "Walkout to Vote" movement.

"The higher the youth turnout, the more politicians are forced to listen to what we have to say and adjust accordingly," said student Megan Grizzle.

Ballot problems in Marathon County

1:33 p.m.

The first 54 people who cast their votes Tuesday in the Marathon County village of Stratford were given the wrong ballots. The village is asking them to come back and vote again.

Village Clerk June Krueger said her office has reached out to nearly all 54 of the voters affected, and either spoke with them or left messages explaining the issue and asking them to come recast their ballots.

Krueger said the ballots did not have the correct districts listed for the state Senate and Assembly races — the right ones are the 23rd Senate District and the 69th Assembly District. As a result of the error, the ballot machine would not accept the ballots. The village corrected the error and voters No. 55 on received a correctly printed ballot. The village receives the printed ballots from the Marathon County Clerk’s office.

Krueger said her staff contacted the county clerk’s office and the Wisconsin Elections Commission as soon as they realized the error. Village staff will meet with the commission once the polls close to make sure any voter who could not come back to revote today still will have his or her votes counted, Krueger said.

If voters are unsure if they cast a misprinted ballot and have not yet been contacted by the village, Krueger asked them to call 715-687-4166.

- Natalie Brophy

Report from Madison: "It's gone like crazy."

1:10 p.m.

The Cap Times is reporting that mid-day turnout in Madison had already surpassed the 2014 midterm and even the 2016 presidential election.

"Elaine Staley, a chief election inspector working at the Village on Park polling place, said the South Park Street location had seen about 90 voters as of 9 a.m. Staley said normally it takes a full day to reach that kind of turnout in the city’s 73rd ward.

Long lines in Town of Hartford

11 a.m.

There was no mid-morning lull in voting traffic at Town of Hartford where voters stood in line to enter the town hall shortly before 11 a.m. Tuesday. Most town residents in line were smiling and laughing instead of complaining about the short wait.

Town Clerk Rebecca Schuster had 9 poll workers on the floor and ordered enough ballots for a 60% turnout.

Voters wait in line at the Hartford Town Hall.(Photo: Don Behm)

“It’s nice to see this turnout,” Schuster said. “We put in all the work. We want people to vote.”

A smiling Jean Strupp greeted town officials after voting. “It’s awesome,” Strupp said of the turnout.

- Don Behm

CLOSE

First-time voters in the Milwaukee area talk about casting their ballots.
Mike De Sisti, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

New voters at UWM

10:37 a.m.

More than 100 student voters have registered so far this morning at UWM's Sandburg Hall and 300 votes have been cast. Neighborhood residents tend to vote early at this polling site and students vote later.

“If you don’t vote, you shouldn’t complain. It’s important to be involved in choosing the direction Wisconsin takes.” — voter Dan Schu of Stoughton, finance major @UWMpic.twitter.com/VQleWkIwrI

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Election Inspector Sue Barker (left) helped Mark Carothers (right) to find his address to place him in right ward, as he registered to vote in the Town of Merton at the Stone Bank Fire Station. Michael Sears / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Election Inspector Sue Barker (left) helped John Schwartz (right) to find his address to place him in right ward, as he registered to vote in the Town of Merton at the Stone Bank Fire Station. Michael Sears / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Charles Henery (center left) helped Christine Gronewold (center right) in the voting line as she had forgotten her cane and need a bit of help getting in from her car to the voting table and back out in Delafield at Christ the King Lutheran Church. Michael Sears / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

People catch up with friends and neighbors as they arrive and leave the polling place in the Town of Merton at the Stone Bank Firehouse. The fire truck is an antique in the lobby of the building. Michael Sears / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Tyler Been holds his daughter Margaret Been age 10 months as he feeds his ballot into the election machine to be read in Delafield at Christ the King Lutheran Church. Michael Sears / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Waiting for the clock to strike 7 a.m. , voters wait in line to cast their ballots Tuesday, November 6, 2018 at the Calumet Town Hall in Fond du Lac County, Wis. About 20 people were waiting for the polls to open. Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Caroline Polk, of Milwaukee, holds her sleeping 1-year-old daughter Jamyra Henderson as she waits for her husband Jonathan Henderson to vote at the Boys and Girls Club in Sherman Park in Milwaukee. Mike De Sisti/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Voters wait in line at voting district 10 at Calvary Lutheran Church. The mid-term voting kept poll workers busy as voters waited in lines at most polling stations in Oshkosh. Joe Sienkiewicz/USA Today NETWORK-Wisconsin

Poll workers, Lavina Bufkin (from left) and Jimmie Qualls, right, register voters at Sherman Multiculural School in Milwaukee on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018. This is Qualls' 50th year work the polls. She said the first year she volunteered she was pregnant with her first child in 1968. Angela Peterson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Alisha Nelson of West Allis proudly holds her "I Voted" sticker after voting at West Allis Central High School. Citizens across the area cast their vote for the midterm election on Tuesday. Mike De Sisti, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Sabrina Hudson (left) checks in with poll worker Pat Tiarks in Butler. Hudson, a new resident of Butler, registered to vote in today's mid-term elections. She was among the many who got up early to cast their ballots. Angela Peterson/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Dawn Crawford, a long-time resident of Butler, gives thumbs up after casting her ballot as the first resident to vote at the Butler Village Hall. For the last 10 years, Crawford has been the first resident in line to vote. It has become somewhat of a competition and tradition between she and some of her neighbors. Angela Peterson/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Audrey Ziegler, 6, is called by her mother, Jacquelyn, after saying hello to poll workers Kathy Eusslin (center) and Deputy Clerk Carolyn Jahnke at the village hall in Butler. Audrey was with her parents, who were among the early morning voters. Angela Peterson/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Chief Elections Inspector Alan Stewart (left) talks with Mike Slowinski and his son Abraham as voters cast their ballots at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Appleton. Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Heavy turnout in Waupaca

10:05 a.m.

From a voter in Waupaca whoe voted mid-morning and said turnout was extraordinary. “Often during mid-terms, my number is in the 60s and we are the only ones besides poll workers there. Today we briefly waited in line & I was 425. Also was a steady stream of people coming in.”

A first vote at the Zeidler building

9:30 a.m.

Kathyrn Barndt turned 18 a few months ago and this is her first time voting. She was with a fellow MIAD student, Ruth Chana-Guerrero, who said: "I usually don't vote in smaller elections, but it's time to get in a habit of it."

About 60 people waited in line to register to vote and then cast their ballots at the Zeidler Municipal Building at 841 N. Broadway St. in Milwaukee.

"The last election was a testament to votes mattering," said Raina Johnson, who just moved here from Florida. "It obviously made a difference last time, and I hope to make a difference this time."

A first vote for a 60-year-old

9:15 a.m.

As of about 9:15 this morning, nearly 300 people had voted at the Marathon Park polling place. Poll worker Alice Olson said she believes there have been more voters this year than in other years she can remember. Told me her 60 yo daughter voted for this first time this year.

9:10 a.m.Overheard at the Wauwatosa Library: "This is the longest line I've seen in 12 years coming here."

Strong turnout in Oak Creek

8:57 a.m.

In Oak Creek, 215 people had voted by 8:15 at the National Guard Armory. Among them was Anthony Coleman who said he was most interested in the governor‘s race as well as the election to replace Paul Ryan in the 1st Congressional District and the U.S. Senate race pitting incumbent Tammy Baldwin against challenger Leah Vukmir.

Coleman said the most important issues for him were entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security “as well as moral issues with the standing President.“

Coleman admitted he was surprised to see a question about legalizing marijuana use in Milwaukee County. “Here in Wisconsin I didn’t expect to see that on the ballot so quickly,“ said Coleman.

Daniel Hively finished voting around 8:40 a.m. A Libertarian, Hively said he was most interested in economic issues and protection of America’s orders.

“I vote for a smaller government. I think the government is bloated,“ said Hively.

He was interested in the Senate and House races in southeastern Wisconsin as well as a school referendum in Oak Creek.

“We need better education,“ said Hively, who has lived in Oak Creek for three years. “I grew up in the inner city and went to Milwaukee Public schools where instead of fixing the problem they dumbed everything down.“

Hively said he wrestled with the marijuana referendum.

“Being a Libertarian, what other people want to do with their life doesn’t bother me. Though I worry about smoking marijuana and driving. How would they test for that?“ said Hively.

- Meg Jones

"She wanted to vote and be a part of this"

9 a.m.

Dayton Peterson, of Appleton, was still finding a place on her jacket for her "I voted" sticker as she walked out of the polling place. At 19 years old, this was the first election she had ever voted in.

“I feel like there’s a big change that needs to be made and voting is a big step towards it,” she said.

Peterson, a student at UW-Fox Valley, registered to vote at her polling place. Her mother, Jewel Peterson, was with her and was proud her daughter wanted to be involved.

200 voted before 8 a.m. in Germantown

7:45 a.m.

The polling place at Bethlehem Lutheran school in Germantown had a line of voters waiting to get in and the steady stream of voters hadn't stopped. As of 7:45 a.m., 200 people had voted in the traditionally high-turnout suburb northwest of Milwaukee.

- Joe Taschler

Long line at Hart Park in Wauwatosa

7 a.m.

Dozens of people stood in a chilly light rain outside the Hart Park Senior Center in Wauwatosa.

Tim Harrington was voter No. 2 at the polling place. He said he arrived at about 6:40 a.m.

Dozens of people stood in line at the Hart Park Senior Center in Wauwatosa when the polls opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday.(Photo: James B. Nelson/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

It's a bit hard to judge the turnout at Hart Park because the city has only been using the senior center for voting for a couple of elections. That said, there was a steady stream of cars pouring into the parking lot shortly after voting began.

"The main area of rain will continue to slowly shift northward this morning into early this afternoon, with lingering showers rotating through the area," the weather service said. "Most of the precipitation should be north of the area by later this afternoon

Rain showers are expected throughout the day in the Fox Cities and north central Wisconsin, the weather service said. Voters in north central Wisconsin could see some scattered snow showers.

- Trent Tetzlaff

Strong turnout seen in Fond Du Lac County, Appleton, Green Bay

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About 20 voters were in line at the Calumet Town Hall in Fond du Lac County when the polls opened Tuesday morning.(Photo: Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

7 a.m.

Waiting for the clock to strike 7 a.m. voters wait in line to cast their ballots Tuesday, at the Calumet Town Hall in Fond du Lac County. About 20 people were waiting for the polls to open.